


Of Capes and Pickpockets

by Smallest_Worm



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 19:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21286913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smallest_Worm/pseuds/Smallest_Worm
Summary: A short origin idea about how Brierly Ronan came to be Orson Krennic's assistant.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Of Capes and Pickpockets

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Definitely Not An Ambush](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15516222) by [SneakyBunyip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakyBunyip/pseuds/SneakyBunyip). 

> This fic has been lying on my desktop for months now, but I finally had the courage to cut it a bit and post it now. DT-666 aka Kane is Sneakybunyip's wonderful creation, I am only borrowing him for this little story.

Brierly carefully inched closer towards the Imperial with every market stall he looked at. Of course he looked at the goods too, as not to raise suspicion. And finally… he was next to him, sneaking a glance to gage where the man kept his credits.

Before he could make another move however, a black-gloved hand clamped around his left wrist. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you kid.” A terribly staticky voice emanated from the black mask of the trooper. Brierly swallowed thickly, caught right in the act he didn’t know how to react. The caped Imperial turned around to them, analysing the situation with one glance.

Brierly tried to get out of the trooper's grasp without any success and hurled a few choice words at him. 

"Seriously kid, stop that! Who's stupid enough to pickpocket 'n Imperial anyway? Yer' lucky I ain’t so trigger-happy."

Brierly scoffed. "What do you know about stupid. You have no idea why I’d do this, have you? How could you, you live in your happy imperial world without worries about us regular people. You don’t care how we survive, how we have to fight every day just to get by.”

Miraculously there was no shouting, no order to put Brierly under arrest for his rant. Instead the caped man merely shrugged, told his trooper to get his - Ronan’s - ID and move on. 

The trooper audibly sighed and, despite Brierly’s squirming to get out of his grip, he fished around in his pockets until he found his ID. After examining it thoroughly he let go of Brierly and gave him his ID back.

“Don’t try that again kid, yer real lucky my boss ain’t like some other officers. Now, run along.”

Before Brierly could do more than stare agape at the trooper he had followed his superior, leaving Brierly to stand somewhat befuddled around. He had fully expected to be arrested for trying to steal from the Imperial. At the very least he would have thought to be beaten up for his attempt, but this?

Whatever the Imperial wanted with his ID, it was not immediate apparently. Maybe he just wanted to check it in case Brierly tried to pickpocket him again? Deep in thought he hurried home to at least get some sleep before the next gruelling day. It took him a long time though, his thoughts circling around the Imperial officer and his trooper.

By lunchtime the next day he had almost forgotten about them, too caught up in the amount of work he had to finish, to really reminisce about the last night. His routine was broken, however, when none other than the caped Imperial and his black-armoured soldier walked into the office. Reflexively Brierly ducked his head, trying not to stand out to the surveying glance raking over the room.

Half an hour later the Imperials left again and Brierly allowed himself a small sigh of relief. Maybe he had been lucky. Maybe his words had not just angered the man and he had looked for himself under what conditions Brierly and his colleagues were working here. 

“Ronan, into my office!”

The shout cut through his musings, bringing on a fresh wave of dread. He was never called into the office of his superior for praise, never… This could not be good.

Barely an hour later he dragged himself through the door of his home.

“I have to say, you do have an interesting flat, Brierly.”

“You”, for a brief second Brierly felt his anger rising and even made a step towards the man sitting so casually on his bed, but just as quickly that anger dissipated, replaced by resignation. There was nothing he could do anyway. His job was gone, the Imperial had his bodyguard with him, so what could Brierly even do? 

“What do you want? You must be satisfied, I got fired after all.”

“I could have dragged you to the local security force and I guess that would have been much worse. But discussing your recent unemployment is not really why I am here.”

The Imperial hesitated for a moment, his gaze roaming through the small room, before he moved slightly to his side, patting the bed.

“Come, sit. I don’t like craning my head that much.” 

The trooper shifted, clearly unhappy that his boss was letting Ronan so close to him.

“Sir,'' he started, but his superior made a dismissive gesture and smiled even. 

“Relax Kane. I doubt dear Brierly will do anything stupid.”

His eyes were on Ronan but he didn’t even need the reminder. Even he was not so stupid to think about attacking a man who had a trooper with him.

With a sigh he slowly stepped closer and sat down on the edge of the bed, not even looking up.

“I did some digging into your past after our little … run-in yesterday. There isn’t much about you, unfortunately, though I suspect that goes for most people on this planet. You barely finished school, then ran away from home only to end up here… and since you did reasonably well and had no training you were quickly employed because you are cheap.”

Brierly bristled, but the Imperial’s voice had not been condescending at all and it was a fact that Brierly did not get the same wages as his colleagues, simply because he did not have any training or degree.

He looked down at his floor, noticing somehow now how dirty it looked, compared to the polished black boots of the man sitting next to him. Suddenly, there was a datapad looming underneath his face.

"This is an overview of your office's logged work orders over the last year up to today. I think you'll find it quite enlightening." 

Brierley had no idea what the imperial was getting at but he took the datapad, admiring the sleek design for a moment before he took in the charts and data. It showed an exact account of the amount of work done by every employee. 

His eyes widened, the more he read the more confused he got. 

"But… they told me I was behind in my work, behind everyone… but this, it… I…" 

The Imperial nodded slowly. 

"You were the one outperforming them all. And because you were that good they let you do all the work." 

“So what do you want? Humiliate me some more, show me how stupid I was to care about my work, to try and do good? Arrest me? Why are you here?”

The man lowered his datapad and mustered Brierly for a few very uncomfortable seconds. 

“I came to offer you a job actually. It’s clear that your potential is wasted in that office and I doubt you liked that job so much, am I right? So, I am offering you a position in my team. Much more meaningful work, better pay and better living conditions.”

“Don’t forget medical n’ dental,” the trooper next to him helpfully supplied, which had the Imperial smile amused.

Brierly blinked, caught off-guard again. This did sound too good to be true. And there was one question insistently nagging at him. 

“Why are you doing this? Why me?”

The Imperial’s smile got wider, but there was a smidgen of seriousness in his tone.

“I’ve seen your work and I am currently in need of an assistant. I do believe that you could fill that position rather well. So I’m, what’s the expression, hitting two flies with one stone?”

That did not really explain anything at all, but on the other side this was a golden opportunity. Probably the only one Brierly would ever get to leave this miserable rock behind. And it wasn’t like he would miss anything here. He would be a fool not to take this offer.

“Okay”, he finally, quietly said and at the prodding gaze of the Imperial he cleared his throat and with more resolve continued. “Yes, I would like to accept your offer… Sir.”

Another amused smile, why was this man always smiling at him? 

“You’re a quick learner, Brierly.” He took one glance at the trooper and stood up, patting Brierly’s shoulder as he got up. 

“Well then, let’s be off. I assume you don’t need much time to pack do you?”

It wasn’t even an insult, merely a statement and one that Brierly couldn’t really protest. All he had, all he valued, was one datastick and a change of clothes. He didn’t really own much more. 

“W-wait. Ehm. What do I call you, other than Sir of course?” Brierly had been stewing over that for the whole evening and in his mind “Imperial” was starting to get old, especially now that he himself was “an Imperial”. 

Said man hesitated for a moment, then pulled off his black leather glove and held out his hand to Brierly. 

“You can call me Director Krennic. It is nice to finally get properly acquainted Brierly Ronan.”

Brierly shook the Imp-Krennic’s hand, surprised how soft the skin was, despite the strong grip. 

“Likewise… Director Krennic.”

Packing his things up was a quick affair. He only grabbed a change of clothes, his best ones and a datacard. There was not much more to his meager life here. Director Krennic and his trooper - Kane - they thankfully did not comment on his lack of, well everything. 

Instead they gave him a few moments alone, waiting outside for him to follow them to their shuttle. A majestic black shuttle loomed in front of them, something Brierly had never seen before. He hesitated a moment, admiring the sleek wings that rose up ahead.

He did not see Krennic watch his awe with a gentle smile.

Inside Brierly looked around, clutching his meager bundle of clothes to his chest as he searched for a place he was allowed to sit down. Should he ask? What was expected of him now? 

“Come on, you can go lie down for now, you must be tired after that day.” Krennic seemed to have sensed his uncertainty and led him from the ramp through the main area, where his trooper had already taken a seat and into a smaller room that faintly smelled of bacta. A shelf with apparently medical supplies was the only other furniture in the room apart from a surprisingly spacious bed. Somehow Brierly doubted that it was the original one that was fitted into this room.

“You can change and then just lie down, Kane will wake you should we get close to Coruscant before you’re up. Get some rest Brierly, tomorrow you will start a new life.”

Krennic was almost out of the door when Brierly noticed the peculiar soft sheets and the far too comfortable looking pillow. This was surely not standard… was he sleeping in Krennic’s bed?

“Sir… is this your…?”

Krennic sighed, turning around and regarding Brierly with a strangely soft expression. 

“Does it matter Brierly?” His tone was gentle, no reproach in there as he took a step back towards Brierly.

“I’ve seen what you had to put up with both at work and your… flat. I think you deserve some comfort for change. It won’t be for long, back on Coruscant you will need to adapt but… for now at least, enjoy a small measure of luxury.”

He left the young man behind and returned to Kane who was sitting now without his helmet on one side of the main area, grinning like a loth cat. He had not asked Krennic about his reasons for hiring the would-be thief, but the soft smile he had seen on his superior’s face had been very telling. Despite what everyone else seemed to think, his boss had a heart and an eye for future minds, so why not use both? Maybe this Brierly Ronan would turn out well?


End file.
